10/19/2011

Amnesty: States foreign armed the Arab rulers

A report by Amnesty International (Amnesty) Russia and the United States and European countries ignored the concerns about human rights violations in the Arab world, and sold large quantities of weapons of repression of the governments in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years.The director of arms control in the organization Brian Wood said that "Arab spring reaction of the people who were stripped of their rights by force, forced by governments and security forces on the use of tools available from Europe and North America, Russia and others."The FAO has identified both from Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States as the main supplier of the five which saw popular protests this year against the ruling elites in Arab countries.Amnesty International has also identified ten countries were licensed for the supply of arms to the government of Muammar Gaddafi since 2005, including Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.The organization said that Russia's largest arms supplier to Syria, where you go 10% of the exports of Russian weapons there. Wood added, "It is money and short-sighted by the rule of law and respect for human rights."Examines the report of Amnesty International arms transfers to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen since 2005.

TreatyThe organization said that the failure showed the need for a meaningful international treaty in the field of arms trade to stifle the supply of arms to countries that may be used against their people.She said she want to review each case of proposed transfers of weapons to stop an export if there is a significant risk to human rights violations.Believes that a ban on weapons is often only when the damage occurred.And comment on the Amnesty International hopes talks amend the Arms Trade Treaty which is scheduled to resume in the United Nations in February next.Wood said that 2012 will be a crucial year of the Treaty, is "life or death," adding, "I think that we will have a treaty, but the question is: will equal the paper it's written on?".The report comes at a time in which it urged human rights groups, the U.S. Congress to prevent the deal to $ 53 million for the sale of weapons to Bahrain, where more than 30 people in protests.On the other hand, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mark Toner Tuesday that several procedural steps remain before the United States before it can deliver the arms to Bahrain.Toner noted that the process of selling related equipment "for purposes of external defense," but he acknowledged that a number of members of Congress have expressed concerns about the deal.Britain said it plans to tighten export rules to stop sales of arms and ammunition and gas lacrimal countries where security conditions are a concern.